A principal in Pennsylvania is in trouble for referring to a special needs student as a psychopath. This happened during a school meeting with the student and his mother. The principal sent the comment by text message.
A meeting took place at Oxford Area High School, a public school in Pennsylvania. The meeting included principal David Madden, a student, and the student’s mother. The meeting also included Lisa Lightner, who is from the Arc of Chester County.
During the meeting, Principal David Madden sent several text messages. I’m not sure exactly who the messages were intended to be read by. However, Lisa Lightner was sitting next to David Madden. She glanced at his phone and read an insulting text that “included an obscenity”, and that referred to the student as a “manipulator”. The student he said this about had bipolar disorder.
In other text messages, Principal David Madden referred to the student as “the biggest accident waiting to happen”, and also as “the inspiration for the CSI show on school killing sprees”. She reported that text message to her supervisor at Arc of Chester County. They requested the student’s records, as well as the records of other Special Education students from the school that David Madden worked at.
In an email, Madden wrote that although this student only had one incident a year, it was consistent with John Hinkley Jr., John Wilkes Booth, and Lee Harvey Oswald. He wrote “Same thing can be said for Hinkley, Booth, and Oswald… they only did it once that year”.
The records showed that David Madden also made inappropriate comments about other students who were part of the Special Education program. According to the records, David Madden referred to students who had disabilities as “the guilty people”. The full quote is:
“Special ed… the guilty people have more rights than the innocents. Amazing world we live in and equally amazing that people are afraid of lawsuits. I say bring them on.” He also said “If I ever end up being a superintendent I will take it on”.
Arc filed four grievances with the Pennsylvania Department of Education against Madden in February of 2012. He was suspended in March. In July, the school board voted 6 -3 to reinstate Madden as a principal.
Madden has been stripped of his Special Education duties, and will not be allowed to interact with students who are part of the Special Education program. This decision has outraged many parents. The school board is requiring Madden to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and to be tested for drugs, before he will be allowed to return to his position as a principal in the upcoming school year.
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